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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24517207">The Prince Who Slept 500 Years</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hag_of_Ages/pseuds/Hag_of_Ages'>Hag_of_Ages</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Fate of Etheria [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alien/Human Relationships, Apparently this made people cry, Entrapdak, F/M, Family, Grief/Mourning, Growing Old, Minor Original Character(s), Science Babies, Self-Esteem Issues, background scorfuma, background seamista, entrapdak has a ton of children, so watch out</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:01:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,928</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24517207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hag_of_Ages/pseuds/Hag_of_Ages</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The average Etherian has a life span of eighty years. Entrapta is twenty-eight. </p><p>Hordak is over 300 years old with an expiration date unknown. </p><p>What is he going to do when she's gone?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Fate of Etheria [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>173</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Prince Who Slept 500 Years</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I'm publishing this because my other Entrapdak fic was so well-received. I'm almost 100% certain that this one won't, because of how different it is. In other words, don't get angry at me, you asked for this (that's an exaggeration maybe like two of you did).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Year Zero. That’s what they called it after the war ended. With the defeat of Horde Prime and the ascension of Adora as She-Ra, Protector of Etheria, a new era began. Year Zero, ANS. Age of New She-Ra. The Second Age.</p><p>	In that year, Hordak winced as Entrapta stuck a needle through his arm. It was difficult to find a suitable vein that wasn’t too close to a bone in his emaciated limbs. Prime’s reconditioning of his anatomy faded faster than he anticipated, and soon Hordak returned to his blue-haired, red-eyed, noodle-limbed self. </p><p>	“Got it!” Entrapta said as she pulled back the needle, the vial filled with his maroon-colored blood. With a tendril of hair, she pressed a pad of cloth to the bleeding in his arm. “Hold this tight while I get the results.” </p><p>	“I apologize, it should not have taken this long to find a suitable vein,” Hordak said.</p><p>	“Oop! That’s another strike.” On her way to the computer, Entrapta stopped at a chalkboard and tallied a mark. “That makes seventeen times, Hordak.”</p><p>	Written on the chalkboard in Entrapta’s sloppy scrawl, “Hordak is mean to himself counter.” Hordak scowled at the words and its seventeen tally marks.</p><p>	“That does not count,” he argued, “I was merely stating a fact. My own biology causes a disadvantage for-”</p><p>	“Oop, there goes another one.” Entrapta was already at the computer now, depositing the vial of blood into an analyzer. She extended a length of hair across the laboratory to mark another tally on the chalkboard. “Hordak, when are you gonna realize that every second feeling bad about yourself is a moment we could be talking about science?”</p><p>	Hordak frowned. She was right, she was always right. He had been pardoned for his past misdeeds. He had spent every day with her to make it up to the Etherians, from cleaning out Beast Island to rebuilding structures he destroyed. But that could never stop the shadow of his former self chasing him wherever he went. All of Etheria could forgive him, but that didn’t mean he could forgive himself. </p><p>	Hordak couldn’t say that to Entrapta. Not when it bothered her so much. He reminded himself to smile. At least he was alone with the person who mattered most.</p><p>	“Have we any results yet?” Hordak asked, walking behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder as she worked. His other hand pressed the cloth to the tiny wound.</p><p>	Entrapta nodded, her eyes shimmering with the thrill of discovery. She took out a recorder and began to dictate: “After analyzing genetic data from a sample of hair, cheek cells, magnetic scans, and now blood, we have a full work-up on Hordak’s biology.”</p><p>	Ladders of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine coiled across the screen. They perused through the data, noting now similar the DNA strands of the Horde matched Etherian DNA. </p><p>	“Ooooh!” Entrapta squealed. “This could prove my theory that all life in the universe had a common ancestor. Hey…Hordak, look at this.” Entrapta pointed to a block of data. “Wait, lemme crunch the numbers.” She hopped onto a smaller holo-pad and typed so fast Hordak worried her fingers would bleed. </p><p>	“Wow!” She looked at him in astonishment. “Your DNA samples indicate that you’re roughly 384 years old.”</p><p>	“…What?” Hordak racked his brain through archives of memories. He always thought of himself as young. After all, he had accomplished so little compared to the infinite legacy of Prime. He remembered his few but significant triumphs as a high-ranking general, his shameful exile, his twenty years colonizing Etheria, and the time spent healing the planet after the war up to now. He knew that the children of Etheria grew up fast, but he never considered just how short it was compared to his lifetime.</p><p>	“Three-hundred and eighty four…” Hordak echoed. His blood turned to ice in his body.</p><p>	“In Etherian years, of course. That’s incredible! I wonder what your total life expectancy is-”</p><p>	“Entrapta.” He lightly gripped the sides of her arms. “How old are you?”</p><p>	“Twenty-eight,” she answered plainly. “Since the life expectancy of Etherian humanoids is about eighty, I have fifty-two years left, give or take a few. Why?”</p><p>	He couldn’t hold it back anymore. He had to be honest, even if it was ugly.</p><p>	“I…I really am an alien.” Hordak’s legs felt weak as he fell back into a chair. “I don’t belong on this planet. I am a freak to your kind.”</p><p>	He closed his eyes and waited to hear the chalk screeching against the blackboard. Another tally mark in his descent of self-hatred. Instead, he felt Entrapta take his claws into her tiny hands. He opened his eyes to see her hair floofed into a chair so she could sit at his level. Her eyes were soft and full of understanding.</p><p>	“People used to call me a freak. I’m pretty sure some of them still think I am, and I’m no alien,” she said. “I’m just different. So are you. We can both be different together. That’s why I love you.”</p><p>	Hordak felt a lump choking his throat. No one had ever told him that before. He should have told her he loved her back, if that is truly what his feelings meant. Instead, all he could manage was, “I’m 300 years older than you.”</p><p>	“356 years to be exact,” Entrapta corrected. “Relative to your species, you could be young. Who knows? Let’s find out.” She turned to go back to the screen, but Hordak held onto her hand for a bit longer. She was a lifeline. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he knew it when he felt her arms around him. She nuzzled her head into his bare chest.</p><p>	“It’s no fun when people are mean to the people I love. So don’t be mean to yourself.”</p><p>	Hordak kept quiet as he tried to convince himself that if Entrapta could love him, that was enough. He didn’t need to be a hero.</p><p>---</p><p>	Hordak opened his eyes from the memory. His eyes were heavy with sleep and his face was wet. Were those tears?</p><p>	The shelter on Beast Island was as cold, dark, and as empty as he left it. He rolled himself out of his stone bed and ran his hands over his face.</p><p>	A dream. That had to have been a dream. In all his life he had never dreamed before. It warmed his heart that he dreamed of Entrapta, but it hurt just as much as he remembered he was alone.</p><p>	Hordak lifted the holo-pad to check the year.</p><p>	Year 102 ANS. He had been sleeping for thirty-one years.</p><p>	“Not enough,” his voice croaked. His whole body ached with lack of movement. He lowered his creaking bones back onto the stone bed and closed his eyes.</p><p>	He replayed the memory in his mind again and again.</p><p>	I didn’t need to be a hero, he thought. What does that make me now? His instinct was to punch himself in the face for thinking such a thing, but sleep overcame him like a heavy blanket.</p><p>---</p><p>	Year Eight ANS. Hordak and Entrapta’s newest invention, the sand-surfer, glided its occupants across the Crimson Waste like an ocean liner at sea.</p><p>	“Scorpia, Perfuma, have you seen Entrapta? She left a note saying she needed to speak with me,” Hordak asked as he reached the main deck of the sand-surfer. The two princesses were splayed out on beach chairs, sunbathing in the deadly heat of the Waste. It was almost comical.</p><p>	“Heeey, Hordak!” Scorpia waved a claw at him. “Thank you so much again for inviting us on the trip!”</p><p>	You invited yourselves, Hordak thought of saying, but kept his mouth shut. “You’re welcome.”</p><p>	“We absolutely must invite the other princesses next time,” Perfuma gushed as she took her wife’s shoulder. “This is so much better than my first time in the Waste.”</p><p>	“Yes, yes,” Hordak mumbled. “I need to find my wife, have you seen her?”</p><p>	“Nope, sorry,” Scorpia said simply. “Oh! That reminds me, have you seen the kids around?”</p><p>	Hordak sighed. Of course, he tried to find help in other people, only for them to ask him for help instead. Now that he was the unofficial handyman of Etheria, this was more or less daily life.</p><p>	As if on cue, three children with scorpion tails and flowers in their hair ran onto the deck, laughing and tackling over each other. </p><p>	Still, Hordak couldn’t help but smile as the two moms tried to wrangle their rowdy bunch. Those children owed their existence to Entrapta, after all. Etherians long ago once used magic to create children between parents of the same sex. Now that the magic was returning to the land, Entrapta harnessed its power combined with First Ones tech to make children like Scorpia and Perfuma’s a possibility again. </p><p>	They were miracles. But annoying ones at that.</p><p>	That’s when Hordak remembered his own miracles. Surely, they would know where their mother was.</p><p>	Hordak found the oldest child running from the children’s cabin, her tiny metal arms full of toy building blocks that left a trail falling behind her. </p><p>	“Stop right there, little one,” Hordak said as he picked up the blocks. “Where are you off to?”</p><p>	His daughter skidded to a top. “Morning, Papa! I’m bringing my toys to the glass-room so I don’t get bored.”</p><p>	Hordak smiled fondly. At first, the thought of procreating scarred him to the core. Instead of fearing whatever came out of him, Hordak found himself delighted by the prospect of parenthood. The children were so inventive, they had silly names for just about everything. They all called the cockpit the “glass-room” due to the giant window that gave a perfect view of the entire Waste. </p><p>	“Why are you going to the glass-room?” Hordak asked as he took the blocks from her arms. She had to wear a metal suit, just like him. Entrapta continued to build their daughter a new suit every time she grew, even though she never seemed to stop growing. The little girl was more than strong enough now to carry things on her own, but that didn’t stop Hordak from helping.</p><p>“Mama’s in the glass-room and getting data,” she said. “She wants me to help but I don’t wanna, and that’s why I’m bringing my toys.”</p><p>	“Ah, thank you. Is your little brother with her?”</p><p>	“Uh-huh.” The girl grabbed her father’s leg and started to walk towards the cockpit. “Let’s go!”</p><p>	“All right, all right. Did you know, Theora,” Hordak said, “that your mother has been waiting to do experiments with you ever since you were born?”</p><p>	Theora looked away. Her lilac hair curtained over her face. </p><p>	Hordak stopped as they reached the staircase that led to the cockpit. “It would mean the world to her if you-”</p><p>	The entire ship lurched. It felt like a giant hand scooped it up and titled it on its side. Theora screamed as she fell, but Hordak caught her before she could hit the wall.</p><p>	“You’re all right,” Hordak said as he held her close to his chest. An explosion sounded, and the ship fell back into place. </p><p>	“Hordak!” Entrapta shouted from the top of the stairs. Their wide-eyed second-born child was wrapped in her hair. “There’s a giant white worm attacking the ship!”</p><p>	“Use the canons!” he yelled back.</p><p>	“I tried, but I can’t get a good shot, it’s too fast!” </p><p>	“Take her!” Hordak tossed his daughter in the air, caught by another arm of Entrapta’s hair. “I’ll handle it myself. Distract it, if you can.” </p><p>	“I’ll give it a shot,” Entrapta said as she disappeared up the stairs. “Don’t die, okay?”</p><p>	“I am not planning on it.”</p><p>	Hordak ran down the hallway and burst into his cabin. In the closet, there sat a box that contained something he swore to never use again. In times like this, however, it helped to have it around.</p><p>	Hordak opened the box and attached the laser canon to his right arm. </p><p>	Back out on the deck, he saw the creature. A great white worm as Entrapta described, with a hole in its face filled with razor-like teeth that no doubt lined its insides all the way down. Hordak shuddered as he imagined being swallowed by it. The worm let out a blood-chilling cry as Scorpia zapped it with her red lightning. Perfuma stood to the back of the deck, shielding her children.</p><p>	“Hordak,” Scorpia said as she was joined by him. “Good to see ya!”</p><p>	Hordak gave her a proud nod as he aimed his arm canon. “I am not terribly pleased to be fighting again, but I am glad to have you on my side.” </p><p>	The worm was subdued by Hordak and Scorpia’s combined attacks. From overhead, Entrapta continued to fire canons that exploded further out into the desert, never getting a clear shot. Sand whipped up all around them until their vision was blinded.</p><p>	“Scorpia? Perfuma?” Hordak shouted.</p><p>	“Right here, Hordak,” Scorpia said. “I don’t hear it anymore. I think it’s gone.”</p><p>	The dust finally passed to reveal a calm desert. </p><p>	“We did it!” Perfuma cheered. “And I didn’t even have to grow a single cactus.” </p><p>	The adults all had a good laugh at that until the desert began to tremble. The white worm launched itself from the sand, knocking the ship through its course, titling it over.</p><p>	“Everyone, hold onto something!” Scorpia shouted. </p><p>	“Mamaaa!” one of the children screamed as she began to slide off of the deck, her human-formed hands slipping off the sheer surface. </p><p>	“Plumeria!” her mothers shouted as the girl fell right off the edge.</p><p>	Hordak was the closest. He launched himself down the side of the ship, caught the little girl by her hand, and desperately reached for something to hold onto. He let out a gasp of relief as his hand caught onto the railing.</p><p>	The ship settled back down. Before everything was safe, the worm appeared once more from the sand, right beneath the two danglers. Plumeria screamed and kicked her legs and tail as the large mouth opened below.</p><p>	“Plumeria, keep your head down,” Hordak ordered.</p><p>	“I want my mamas!”</p><p>	“You’ll be fine if you keep your head down,” he said, trying to keep himself calm as much as her. “I promise.”</p><p>	Plumeria did as she was told and tucked her head into her arms. A path was opened for Hordak’s laser. He fired straight into the monster’s mouth. The creature cried in pain as its inside burned. It wriggled and sunk back into the sand, hissing in defeat. </p><p>	Hordak felt a familiar claw around his arm. As Scorpia hoisted him up, he handed Plumeria to Perfuma. </p><p>	“I landed a clear hit in its mouth,” Hordak reported. “It should be gone-” Hordak gasped as Scorpia crushed him in a hug.</p><p>	“You saved my daughter,” she said, wetting his neck with her tears. “I can’t thank you enough.”</p><p>	“Oh, Hordak!” Perfuma joined in the hug, along with all their other children. “You’re a hero!”</p><p>	Hordak gritted his teeth as the family of five smothered him. Aside from Entrapta and his own children, people rarely hugged him. Barely even touched him. They never had a reason to. Hordak was about to tell them to stop, until he looked up to the glass windows of the cockpit. He saw Entrapta and their children, waving at him and cheering him on. </p><p>	Hordak wormed his arms out to hug Scorpia back. </p><p>	“It was the least I can do,” he told them. “I’m glad you are all safe.”</p><p>	If this was the person his children saw him as – a hero – then that was fine. One day, his children would learn about himself, his past, and the legacy they will inherit. They might as well be proud to have him as a father while they had the chance.</p><p>	When Hordak returned to the cockpit, he accepted the embrace of his own family. </p><p>	“You did it!” Entrapta said as she kissed him. “Who knew you’re still more than just a scientist. Now help me start the blueprints for a new defense system. We should strike while the iron is hot! This ship needs more than just one big canon, it needs a full artillery if it’s to fight off these monsters.”</p><p>	“Excellent, I already have a few ideas.” Hordak plucked their son from his wrap in his mother’s hair and propped him on his shoulders.</p><p>	“Papa!” he said, grabbing his father’s long ear. Then Hordak remembered what he was doing this morning in the first place.</p><p>	“Entrapta, wasn’t there something you had to tell me?” Hordak asked.</p><p>	“Oh, I forgot!” Entrapta tapped herself on her forehead. Then, she spread her arms out in a showy way. “Your DNA has made another successful attempt at fertilizing one of my eggs.”</p><p>	“Another baby?” Hordak's heart beat with as much fear and joy as it did the first time she told him. Hordak embraced his wife in another hug. </p><p>	“That’s wonderful news. You’re going to have a new little sibling,” he told his children. Hordak picked up his daughter, holding both his children on his shoulders. He stuck out his chest, feeling radiant. Feeling powerful. More than he had with a gun to his arm.</p><p>	He looked to his wife. After all these years, the wild look in her eyes never changed, still glowing with brilliant ideas he knew to be churning in the back of her mind. </p><p>	I don’t want anything to change, he thought.</p><p>	His daughter poked his face. “Hey, wake up!”</p><p>---</p><p>	Hordak kept his eyes closed and batted the hand that poked him away. </p><p>	“No,” he grumbled. “Let me sleep.”</p><p>	“Dad, please.”</p><p>	Knowing he wouldn’t be left alone again until he did, Hordak peeled his eyes open. In front of him stood Theora, not the child of his dreams, but all grown up. The half-Etherian and half-Horde children were always a mystery. Theora hadn’t seemed to age one bit since he saw her last, except for her hair, which was white. That could have been an alteration she made herself. Now, without her mother’s hair coloring, she looked more like him than ever. The same tall build enhanced with robotic parts. </p><p>	“Hey, Dad,” she said. “You do realize that it’s been over fifty years, right?” </p><p>	Hordak swung his legs over the stone bed. He kept his head hung low. “Why are you here.”</p><p>	“Did you not hear me? It’s been fifty years.” Theora put her hands on her hips. “What you’re doing isn’t poetic and romantic. Is stupid and selfish.”</p><p>	“Then it is my stupid and selfish decision,” Hordak hissed. “I did not go into hiding only to be found.”</p><p>	“And I didn’t fight my way through Beast Island to go back home alone,” Theora said. “Not everyone on this planet is given the chance to meet their great-grandchildren. You’re throwing it all away.”</p><p>	Hordak turned his head from her. “All that they will see are echoes of a world long passed.”</p><p>	“The world never ‘passes.’ The world is always existing. You should know this, you and Mom studied it for years. So, stop moping around and come back home.” Hordak ears flicked as he detected the desperation in his daughter’s voice. “She wouldn’t have liked seeing you wasting away like this. She didn’t build us these arms of ours for them to go to rust.”</p><p>	Hordak reached to grab the mechanical enhancements on his arm. Indeed, the metallic carapace Entrapta built for him years ago were discolored and rough to the touch.</p><p>	His daughter shook her head. “Forget it.” Suddenly she exploded into a coughing fit. Hordak flinched at the violent sound. Once the distorted hacking finished, Theora cleared her throat and turned the other way. “Coming here was a mistake. I should be spending my time with our family.”</p><p>	“Your family,” Hordak called after her. “I won’t mean anything to them anymore!”</p><p>	The heavy door to his chamber shut. Hordak returned to his resting place, imagining a security system that would permanently lock him here forever.</p><p>---</p><p>	According to the records, there was never a time when Castle Crypto was as crowded or chaotic as this. Explosions going off in one corner, a duel to the death happening in another, robots running wild everywhere.</p><p>	Hordak could hardly take three steps without crushing someone’s lab experiment or slipping on a scrap of paper that had blueprints for some death-bomb.</p><p>	It was the Year 26 ANS. Much to the horror of the Princess Alliance, Entrapta had birthed not just one, not two, but eight of Hordak’s children. She wanted ten, in order to have a larger sample size for genetic testing, but Hordak insisted they stop at eight.</p><p>	Now, all eight of their mixed-species monster children were set loose on the world, much to Entrapta’s encouragement. Needless to say, productivity of her experiments increased eightfold these days. </p><p>	Hordak never minded their boundless energy. The more Entrapta there was in the world, the better. He also got to see aspects of himself reflected in their wonderful children. He knew if they were good, then surely he shared the same goodness, after all.</p><p>	And of course, Entrapta enjoyed every living moment with her flock of little scientists. Maybe this is what she needed more than anything, people who were like her.</p><p>	Hordak sat quietly in the small library of Crypto. Out of the corner of his vision, he kept watch on the youngest, Cobalta, as she set fire to different combinations of power, creating bright explosions of color in the air. As long as she didn’t catch fire again, she was fine. Hordak found himself lost in a book on Etherian history, astounded with so much information he never knew before.</p><p>	Until the sixth-born, Xenona, burst in. At some point Hordak and Entrapta ran out of name ideas and named their children after elements on the periodic table.</p><p>	“Dad!” Xenona shouted.</p><p>	“What is it?”</p><p>	“Mom’s hurt!” </p><p>	Hordak dropped his book. Colbalta dropped her lighter. They followed the girl to one of the many laboratories in the castle. The children stood around their mother as she stood bent over in the middle of heavy equipment, twisted like an old tree trunk.</p><p>	“Don’t just stand there,” Hordak barked at them like soldiers, one of the rare instances in which he did, “get the medic bots! Get healing kits!” </p><p>	Just like that the children dispersed. The youngest few ended up following the oldest, frightened by their mother’s injury and their father’s sudden outburst. Hordak would apologize to them for raising his voice, but only after he knew their mother was okay.</p><p>	“Entrapta.” He knelt to her level. “What happened? Where does it hurt?!”</p><p>	His wife gave him a pained but proud smile. “I just bent over to grab that wrench over there, and suddenly my back decided to stop working.” </p><p>	A back injury. That could mean anything. Hordak settled to stay in that spot and keep her company until the army of children returned with help. </p><p>	“You got hurt by bending down,” Hordak said. “That hasn’t happened before.”</p><p>	“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Hordak, but I’m getting old. As soon as I can get my hands on some tech again, I’m building me new parts.” She reached out and tapped her finger on his metal suit. “Now we’ll both be cyborgs!”	</p><p>	Of course he noticed she was getting old. He never wanted to admit it, but it was true. Her muscles, once thick and sturdy from a lifetime of working with her hands, now softened like pudding. Even her face had grown softer, adorned with deep crinkles at her eyes that appeared every time she smiled. But the passage of time could never ebb away the look of pure inspiration that crossed her face whenever she thought of tech. </p><p>	That question which always lurked in his mind pounced on him like a wild animal. What would he do when she grows old and dies?</p><p>---</p><p>	Hordak’s face was drenched cold with sweat. He somehow managed to force himself out of a dream turned into a nightmare. </p><p>	A voice gasped. “He’s awake!”  </p><p> 	Standing before him at his stone bed on Beast Island were two youths. Hordak nearly screamed – he was looking at a ghost.</p><p>	The one closest to him possessed so much resemblance to Entrapta. It shook him at his core. She was small but sturdy, with light brown skin and lilac hair cut short. But her pointed ears and red glowing goggles suggested this child also carried his own horde DNA. There was no doubt in his mind that she was a descendant. No, not just a descendant – a long-dead memory resurrected to life, here to haunt him. </p><p>	The second youth was harder to place. She had a tall build with short black hair and blue eyes. For a second, he felt relief at seeing a fresh face. Then he noticed the scorpion tail swinging at her feet, and he lost all hope. </p><p>	“Hi, Grandpa!” the first girl greeted with a smile too big to be angry at. “My name is Arcana, I’m your great-great-granddaughter!” </p><p>	“And I’m Blastia. I’m not your granddaughter, but hi!” The second girl waved a hand. </p><p>	Hordak couldn’t look at either of them. “Why have you come here?”</p><p>	No answer. Hordak imagined the disappointment on their faces.</p><p>	“I…I wanted to meet you,” Arcana said. “My family has a lot of stories about you, so…”</p><p>	“How did find me?”</p><p>	“My Great-Grandma Theora told me.” The girl awkwardly folded in on herself, now struck shy in his presence. “She said she always wanted to have you to meet me.”</p><p>	“That’s a lie. If she truly wanted this, why isn’t she here to see it for herself?” </p><p>	Another pause.</p><p>	Until at last, the girl told him, “She died a few weeks ago.”</p><p>	Weakly, Hordak looked at the girl’s red goggles. “Did…did any of my children inherit my longevity?”</p><p>	Arcana’s head lowered. “Um-”</p><p>	“Enough!” Hordak shouted. “Forget I asked you anything. Forget you ever saw me here.”</p><p>	“But Grandpa…” </p><p>	He should not have looked so closely into her face. So familiar, but achingly distant. Worlds away. Ages away. </p><p>	“Go!” Hordak slashed his claws threateningly through the air. </p><p>	“Arcana, we should leave,” Blastia said, taking her friend’s hand and walking backwards. </p><p>	Hordak leered at them until they disappeared back into the darkness and their footsteps echoed on the steel floor no more. Alone again, Hordak reached for his holo-pad and wiped the dust off. </p><p>	“Year 296 ANS,” it read. </p><p>	Hordak smashed the machine before slamming back into slumber.</p><p>---</p><p>	Year 59 ANS. </p><p>	Hordak and Entrapta sat at the back of the crowd in respectful silence.</p><p>	It wasn’t the first funeral Hordak ever attended. The first was for Micah, who died a peaceful death of old age fifteen years before this. They were never close, but Hordak saw him enough times throughout the year to see his body begin to break down, bend-double, become enflamed with lines and winkles, and sprout gray hair that withered to white. His sister Castaspella joined him in death not even a year after that.</p><p>	Ever since that, Hordak was in denial that the same fate would befall everyone else. Not only was he achingly wrong, Hordak was forced to watch it happen to all of them. Catra grew old. Scorpia grew old. Perfuma grew old. Even Adora grew old. He never changed.</p><p>	This funeral was for Seahawk. Such a thought seemed impossible. A bright soul like his could never fade. </p><p>	Per Seahawk’s request, everyone at the funeral gathered to watch a ship sail off at the harbor, his coffin on board. They all clapped as the ship caught fire. It was supposed to be a celebration of his life. Hordak felt sick to his stomach.</p><p>	“That crazy old loon,” Mermista’s old voice rasped. The gray-haired window shook her head in embarrassment, joined by her other friends of a lifetime. They all looked more or less the same distorted by age. Plumped-out figures, withering hair, saggy skin that folded in on themselves.</p><p>	Entrapta was no different. But the look of inspiration in her eyes never changed. Even now, her face glowed as she buried her nose into a holo-screen, typing notes at a slow pace.</p><p>	“What are you typing?” Hordak asked his wife. He spoke in a quiet voice to not disturb everyone else in his row. They were joined by all eight of their children, a score of seventeen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. People from all over had been called to mourn for Seahawk. Hordak never realized how many people loved the old sailor until the he was gone.</p><p>	“I’m designing something to increase my life span,” Entrapta said, not looking up from her work. “I’m not going to die.”</p><p>	He gave her arm a tight squeeze. “I’m glad to hear it. I could never forgive you if you left me alone.”</p><p>	Her hands stopped for a moment, taking his words in. She continued on as normal. </p><p>	Hordak sighed. Suddenly he found himself sixty years into the past, into the days of war, when Entrapta disappeared from him for the first and only time. He was hurt, betrayed, moved to destroy everything in his path. </p><p>	Maybe this feeling of losing her again was different, or maybe he had changed. All he felt was a quiet sadness in his heart.</p><p>---</p><p>	Year 71 ANS. </p><p>	Hordak could remember the day with perfect clarity when Entrapta first told him his own age. It was only seventy years ago; it wasn’t that long of a time. He remembered the needle stuck in his arm, how difficult it was to find a vein. He remembered when she told him her own age, and she had the lifespan of roughly eighty. </p><p>	Thanks to her inventions, Entrapta made it to ninety-nine. But that couldn’t restore all the strength and energy in her body. She still had the sharp mind she always did, recording ideas for inventions and theories on how the very universe functioned.</p><p>	As for the machines that kept her alive – breathing equipment, nanobots that fought disease at the microscopic level, regenerative tissue serum – all of that had to be engineered by Hordak, who remained as physically strong as he did seventy-one years ago. He hadn’t aged a day compared to his wife, who now wasted away in a bed from which she never left, in a room that neither of them left.</p><p>	A hatch in the wall slid open, revealing a plate of tiny cups of soup. Hordak took the plate and presented it to her.</p><p>	“Dear,” he said quietly, placing his knuckles on her withered face, “are you feeling hungry today?”</p><p>	Entrapta’s ruby eyes fell onto the plate of soups. She stuck a tongue out in disgust. </p><p>	“Ugh. The soup’s not tiny enough.” A wobbling strand of gray hair moved to push the plate away. “How’s the progress on that feeding tube prototype?”</p><p>	“It’s, uh…” Hordak swallowed. There was no way after seventy years he would tell a lie now. “I have not been to the lab in days.”</p><p>	“Yes, because you’re too busy taking care of a dying old lady,” Entrapta called him out, and broke into an airy cackle. “You’re wasting time with me when you should be enjoying the wonders of science.”</p><p>	“What’s the point of science if you’re not there to share it with me?”</p><p>	“I spent twenty-six years enjoying science on my own until I found you,” Entrapta wheezed. She patted a hand of wrinkled flesh and bones on his arm. “It’s about time you found a way to manage on your own.”</p><p>	Hordak took her hand and held it to his forehead. He knelt by her bedside. He would have remained there until his own last breath.</p><p>	“Wake up, Hordak,” she told him, flicking him on his scalp. She gave him a sneaky smile. “I have a surprise.” She slithered her other hand out from the bedsheets and presented him a compact disc. </p><p>	“What’s this?”</p><p>	“My last invention,” she said, sucking her lips in a toothless smile. “Before I die, you can upload a map of my consciousness onto that disc. All you need to do is build the transfer device. That way, you’ll have my brain with you forever.”</p><p>	Hordak clutched the flat disc, caressing it with his thumb, as softly and fondly as if it was Entrapta herself. </p><p>	It was cold, hard metal. </p><p>	“You could build a robotic model of me and upload my brain,” Entrapta said. “That would be a nice experiment, to actually be a robot for once.”</p><p>	Hordak sighed and placed the disc back on the bed. “Is that what you really want?”</p><p>	Entrapta stared him down. “I don’t want to leave you alone, Hordak.”</p><p>	“I won’t be alone,” Hordak promised. His throat tightened with words he never wanted to speak. “I will be just fine. I will have all of your inventions, I’ll have Emily, and all of our descendants. You are everywhere in Etheria.”</p><p>	Entrapta hummed as she shut her eyes. “You think I’ve lived a good life?”</p><p>	“You’re a celebrated hero of war, a world-renowned inventor and scientist. Entrapta, you would be a fool to consider your life wasted. You will be studied in history books for generations!”</p><p>	“Yeah, that’s all probably true,” Entrapta agreed. She gave him a contented smile. “I also got to be your wife. Don’t forget about that. That was really great, too.”</p><p>	Hordak’s eyes flooded with tears. His vision betrayed him – all he could see was a blur and all he could feel was pain. “I love you so much.” </p><p>	“I love you, too. You were the best lab partner I could ever have.” Entrapta scooted over and patted the spot next to her. Hordak joined her in the bed and felt as she placed her fragile, old body next to his. He held onto as much as he could, breathed in as much as he could take, lived with her as much as he could until she was gone.</p><p>---</p><p>	“Wake up,” a voice ordered. It was small but strong. “In the name of Etheria, I command you to wake up.”</p><p>	Hordak had no other choice than to obey. It was not an easy release from sleep, his eyes felt zipped up with the crust of long-dried tears. Eventually, he lumbered up, caked in dust and cobwebs.</p><p>	“Woah…I can’t believe it actually worked.”</p><p>	He had to look at the person who woke him up. It was inevitable. He braced himself for another long-lost descendant with a face of a ghost.</p><p>	It refreshed him to find someone new that he had never seen before. An adventurous-looking girl, no older than thirteen. Light wool clothing dressed her thin frame, suggesting a poor upbringing. Her dark skin was scuffed with scars and dirt. A plume of yellow hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. </p><p>	“Hi…” the girl said, stepping back in awe. “Are you the Sleeping Prince?”</p><p>	Hordak tilted his head. “I am a prince by marriage, and I have been sleeping.”</p><p>	“Oh…I guess it’s you, then.”</p><p>	Hordak felt so confused by this girl and her vagueness that it gave him a headache. “What year is it?” Hordak asked, rubbing his temple.</p><p>	“It’s the year 571 ANS, Sir,” the girl said stiffly. “But some old folks are calling it Year Zero of the Third Age now, because it’s all so different, I think.”</p><p>	“Don’t call me ‘Sir.’” Hordak suddenly felt sick at the thought of five-hundred years of sleep. He still felt no older or closer to death. His armor, however, felt rusted and practically unusable. He tried not to think about how there was nobody left who could rebuild it for him like she did.</p><p>	Instead, Hordak distracted himself by sizing the young girl up. He noticed a large sword tied to the girl’s belt. “Who are you?”</p><p>	“My name is Ordara,” she said. </p><p>	“Horde…ara?” </p><p>	“Ord-ara. Yeah, it’s a little weird. My dads gave me that name because their favorite fairy story growing up was ‘The Sleeping Prince,’ and one of the characters is named ‘Hordak,’ so they just changed the name ‘Hordak’ a little to ‘Ordara.’” After her long explanation, she took an equally long breath. Her awkward demeanor couldn’t help but remind him of one of his children.</p><p>	“Please, do not tell me you are some long-lost descendant of mine,” Hordak groaned as he ran a hand over his face.</p><p>	“No, I don’t think I am.” Ordara showed off her curved ears. “They’re not pointed like some other people I know. A lot of people have your ears, Sir. I mean…Mr. Prince. Or, Hordak. Should I just call you Hordak?”</p><p>	“'Hordak' is fine. How many are there?” Hordak asked, his morbid curiosity getting the best of him as he imagined a whole city of pointy-eared cyborgs. </p><p>	“There’s a lot, I can’t really say how much, though. It’s really only just the ears, though.” Ordara cleared her throat. “Sorry. I’m probably not being too helpful…”</p><p>	“Why are you here? You traveled all the way through Beast Island to bother a sleeping old man?”</p><p>	“Isn’t this place called ‘Robot Island?’” Ordara shrugged. “Maybe the name changed. Oh! Yeah, I’m here because my dads always told me the story of the brilliant Princess Entrapta and her beloved Hordak. It’s the story of an alien who crash-landed on Etheria, tried to take over the planet, but ended up helping save it after he fell in love with a princess named Entrapta. Together, they brought many great scientific advances onto the planet. But since he was from another world, he didn’t grow old like she did. She died, and he left to a deserted island to sleep for years and years until Etheria needed him again.”</p><p>	Hordak needed a moment to take in the fact that his life had now become a bedtime story for Etherian children. At least he wasn’t a story meant to scare them into their beds for the night. “And you came all this way to see if an old myth is true or not.”</p><p>	Ordara shook her head. “Uh…I’m actually here because I need your help. We need your help. All of Etheria does. Invaders from another planet have arrived, and they’re destroying cities with power far beyond our own.”</p><p>	Hordak raised his eyebrows. “So, you wish to fight aliens with an alien.”</p><p>	“You’re just as Etherian as all of us,” Ordara said. “If you’re really Hordak, then you’ve been asleep on this planet for hundreds of years. That’s a heck of a lot longer than I’ve ever lived. Not to mention you’re an experienced warrior and a leader…and maybe you could help us…or something, I don’t know.”</p><p>	“Even if I am the Hordak you say I am, why should I come to your aid? This world was never the same without…” Hordak’s voice trailed off. </p><p>	“I mean, it still is your planet, right? Don’t you wanna help save it?” Ordara whined.  </p><p>	Hordak growled in frustration. “Those stories they told you are lies. I am no hero – I was just a man. The hero were always the princesses, the hero was always She-Ra. Go ask her for help.”</p><p>	Ordara looked down nervously, then drew her sword from her belt. Lifting it high in the air, she spoke, “For the Honor of Grayskull.”</p><p>	Hordak shielded his eyes from the light as the young girl transformed into She-Ra before him, glowing in a radiance that Hordak had nearly forgotten. It didn’t last long as Ordara glitched back into her original form and collapsed on the floor. The sword clattered on the ground. Hordak remained perfectly still, his mouth held open in astonishment.</p><p>	“I…I was too young to be She-Ra. My powers don’t work right. The Council made me do it because they needed someone perfect, but I’m not!” Ordara cried. “You said you’re not a hero…but we don’t need a hero, we just need somebody. Please…help”</p><p>	“Someone perfect…” Hordak echoed her words. His head turned back to his sleeping spot. He had been there for so long, there was an indentation of where his body lay.<br/>
What have I been doing, he asked himself.</p><p>	“The first thing you must know,” Hordak said, “imperfections do not make you weak. My wife taught me that lesson long ago, and it was a lesson we taught to all our children and grandchildren.”</p><p>	A wide grin spread on Ordara’s face.</p><p>	Hordak knew he had to stop that sooner rather than later. “But this does not mean you are my grandchild. Even if we do share even one drop of common blood, it doesn’t matter. You are just Ordara, a child who needs a teacher.” </p><p>	“Oh.” Ordara’s head dropped, unable to hide the disappointment. “Yeah, I guess it’s been so long it doesn’t matter anyways.”</p><p>	Hordak tried to hide the guilt he felt, pressing his lips to a straight line.</p><p>	“The second thing you must know, I did not sleep so that Etheria could ‘call upon me for help.’ My plan was to sleep until death took me. It seems that is easier said than done. I will help you, only because that is what my friends would have wanted me to do.” </p><p>	Hordak stood up, his bones rattling in the old, broken armor. </p><p>	“Third-” he gasped, sucking in air as the pain radiated throughout his body, “do you know a good mechanic?”</p><p>	Ordara’s eyes sparkled with a glint of invention that Hordak had not seen in five hundred years.</p><p>	“Yeah,” the girl said, “I’m pretty good with tech.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hopefully with its sad themes and inclusion of OCs, this story will upset everyone and no one will ever goad me into publishing fanfiction ever again. (That was just a joke, I know exactly what I'm doing.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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